What tools to carry

Hi, could anyone give me some tips on what tools to carry in my motorcycle tool box ? I have a 1982 xj 750 j maxim. Thanks

 

A full set of metric wrenches, sockets and ratchet, a cordless drill, tire patching kit and small air compressor, etc. You know, the usual stuff!!!
Just kidding.
I carry a few wrenches (major ones that I figure I would need) small vise grip pliers, small LED flashlight, tire plug kit, bike jumper cables (they make'm just for bikes) screw drivers and metric allen wrenches for the sizes needed on the bike.
Don't rely on the tool kit that comes with the bike. The only tools that are any good are the shock adjusting tool (spanner wrench) and the spark plug socket. The screw drivers will probably work in a pinch but I wouldn't count on them for long term use. Just use your common sense and take what you figure you may need if a problem arises.

 

No post at this time

 

Honestly? A cell phone and a credit card will get you out of the most jams the most reliably.

Otherwise, carry as much as you feel comfortable -- I've seen huge toolkits, and then there's the pitiful factory kit - still better than nothing.

I've heard a lot of good things about CruzTools - for $85 the M3 kit looks like a pretty complete one
CruzTools - Metric

 

This kit is a good ballance & the one I carry on my XJ900.
I don't have a kit for my XS 650 as it never breaks down. lol.

 

black tape, zip ties, cheap headlight bulb, leatherman, cell phone, credit card and sometimes a can of fix-a-flat

 

Apart from the Leatherman, none of those are tools.

 

Thanks, I think I'll go with the credit dard, cell phone and a nice looking blonde girl.

 

I find a brunet works better. They are not afraid of getting their hands greasy.

 

hold on there Wiz, i use the black tape for a feeler gauge to set the valves and the zip ties to hold the valves open, the headlight is for signaling rescue aircraft, the cell phone is to prop up the side stand if i park in the mud and the credit card is to buy another cell phone. the fix-a-flat is mostly propane so i use it to weld the frame.
by the way what is that 400 wet/dry sand paper in yours for? sanding those Australian bugs off your face shield ?

 

Made my day right there.

 

My bike is a tool box that moves under it's own power. Every time I need a tool out on the road and have to make do without I leave it in the kit forever more.

- tire plug kit, 12v mini air compressor
-zip ties
-spare fuses (converted panel to blade style)
-rather than a screwdriver like Wiz, I carry a miniature impact driver that accepts different bits. A miniature ratchet handle that takes the same bits.
-1/2" drive ratcheting socket driver (doubles as the hammer for the impact driver)
-(17?) mm deep socket, spark plugs and axle bolts.
-4" handled "all sixteenths" crescent wrench
-zip ties
-8" crescent (spare hammer and axle bolts)
-some misc millimetric allen wrenches. (pretty sure only the ones found around the bike, make a good "straight thing" to put through that cross-hole in the axle)
-my special custom idle mix screw driver (free ZEP swag that I chopped down small enough and knurled the handle so I can weasel it in there and adjust with the tank still on)
-some zip ties
-Flash light, cuz all the above hardly does a lick of good in the dark
-tire pressure gage
-a few misc bits of heat shrink tubing
-some nuts and bolts of sizes commonly found on my bike (exhaust studs, brake stay etc)
-mini jumper cables (never needed them myself but given lots of jumps)
-a bungee net in case I come home with more than I left with.
-pliers, cuz I aint man enough to unbend and pluck out a cotter pin with my fingers.
-many more things that don't spring to mind but if I were to need 'em I'm sure I would know immediately if I had 'em or not.

oh and zip ties.
currently I can only think of about three things permanently replaced or held together with zip ties on my bike. I hear some folks use 'em as mere temporary fixes too

*edit
oh yes, the shock spanner. I haven't adjusted it in so long I forgot I had it. Show's how long since I've had a date brave enough to be "pretty on the pillion" (a nicer way of saying B.o.B.)

My old KZ200 I could adjust by hand if I was feeling my Wheaties.

I swiped something like this from work that fits pretty well. doesn't make very continuous contact all around but the hook hooks into the hole fine and it gets the job done.

 

On my XJ's, I carry the factory tool kit, "augmented." I pitch their crappy pliers and add a decent pair of small needlenose/sidecutters and a small adjustable wrench; plus I always have a tire gauge in my tank bag or somewhere on the bike. Oh, and the Progressive shock-adjusting spanner, plus a flashlight. And that's it.

The Norton is a different story; its onboard tool kit contains everything needed to repair a tube-type flat tire plus a chain break kit and spare cables, bulbs, etc. Funny thing is, I've almost never used any of it for myself. But it has come in handy for helping fellow Britbikers out of an occasional roadside jam.

 

I'm with you on that one. I've used my tool kit to fix so many other riders bikes and hardly ever used it on mine.